Mar.19 (GMM) Michael Schumacher on Thursday joined the majority of the formula one world by questioning the FIA's latest rules changes.

The former seven time world champion, still an advisor to the Ferrari team, said the lateness of the announcements prior to the season is "astonishing", but he also questions the wisdom of their content.

"I cannot imagine those changes to help F1, especially regarding the new (scoring) system to find the champion," said the 40-year-old German.

In the past, he has been quoted as believing the points margin between first and second was only reduced from 4 to 2 points in 2003 to make it harder for him to dominate championships.

But Schumacher does not agree with this change. "I cannot see how it makes sense to eventually have a world champion who has less points than the driver coming in second, even if I also think it is a good move to try to strengthen the winner's position," he added.

Mark Webber, the Australian race driver for Red Bull, is more welcoming of the new system, agreeing with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone that it increases the motivation to push for race wins.

"I can see why they're trying to do it like that so there could be some guys who might not sit in so much and to start going for wins, especially when it's down to two or three guys," the 32-year-old told the BBC.

"Everyone's trying to win, that's clear, but the difference between a win and second now is huge, much bigger than in the past.

"There could be a fraction more aggression shown towards victories in the future because second places won't mean as much, and winning will mean a lot more," he added.

Webber, however, personally sees the change as "not good or bad", and also unnecessary, and warns that a possible side-effect is that scraps between more than two drivers for the title is less likely.

"Robert Kubica would have been nowhere near the championship last year, and do you want that?

"(Also) you could have the world champion making more mistakes than the guy who is second," he added.